095 the soon-to-be surfaced nuke attack sub

this is just a way to save those so called "Chinese experts" if another Yuan birth incident comes up

A fellow who I am acquintated with on another forum has mentioned that China has obtained plans of the Project 971A from Russia. Thoughts on that, gentlemen?

Yeah, I kind of think that that fellow that you are talking about may be pulling your leg.

sounds like another claim that really goes nowhere in honest opinion

If China was developing nuclear submarines for the first time in a vacuum today, copying a Russian submarine or obtaining Russian assistance would have been logical just like the path the Indians are taking today.

But all the talk of obtaining plans for the Akula makes no sense because there is no such vacuum. China developed its first nuclear submarine long after they split with the Soviet Union and was starting to be engaged with the West. Development and evolution tends to follow inertia and momentum based on what you already have and it would be very difficult to try and start something new from scratch with a design that is alien to you and components that you don't have. For example, the Russians have a design philosophy where the sail is set middle of the sub, or at least with considerable distance from the bow. Chinese submarines on the other, follow a pattern closer to some Western designs where the sail is closer to the bow. The location of the sail relative to the sub's body is fundamentally important because of the plumbing, access, and sensors and it influences how the rest of the sub is designed.

lilzz said:

======================================================
Calculating the build rate at Huludao, this would put 4 Type 095s in the water by 2010, which is what is also being stated by sources on China bbs, by which time the Type 096 would be under construction.

Click to expand...

Thanks for quoting me without the context the statement was made. By omitting the rest of the discussion you left out that this was stated as part of a larger discussion of the various theories and speculation regarding nuclear submarine build rates and evolution in discussion at the time on Chinese bbs.

As Crabato has pointed out, we really don't know what is next. There are indications the next evolution attack submarine is in some stage of development primarily because we are seeing more public photography of the Type 093s, but that is pattern driven not data driven speculation.

I would suggest one side effect of higher energy so far in 2008 will be an increased production rate of nuclear submarines. High energy prices represent a political reminder that the time for blue water naval forces for China has arrived.